UK researchers squeeze more power from solar cells

In a paper published in the journal Science, researchers at the Warwick University have demonstrated that more energy could be generated by photovoltaic solar cells by deforming the crystals within the semiconductors, simply by pressing on them.

Silicon solar cells typically consist of two layers, p- and n-type semiconductors, which are placed together to form a p-n junction.

When light is absorbed by the cell, this p-n junction generates an internal field within the device, which splits the charge carriers in opposite directions, generating a current and voltage across the junction.

While such junctions play a crucial role in extracting power from solar cells, they have a fundamental efficiency limit, known as the Shockley-Queisser Limit. This means that only 33.7 per cent of the power contained in sunlight falling on an ideal solar cell in ideal conditions can be converted into electricity.